Jim Thorpe Borough Council voted Thursday night to withhold payments to LB/DB Construction for work on the Memorial Park upgrade project and approved sending the contractor a notice of intent to terminate its contract.

The borough had two pending payment applications tied to Phases I and II of the project.

Officials said the upgrades are designed to address vandalism and misuse by creating separate age-specific play areas, along with a sensory garden, ADA-accessible play equipment, lighting and water line installation.

Council members, however, voiced frustration with missed deadlines, incomplete work and missing documentation from the contractor, LB/DB Construction.

“There are applications that have not yet been certified by the engineer,” Scott Grundowski of Barry Isett & Associates, the borough’s project engineer, said during the meeting. “We had some outstanding items we were waiting for.”

Grundowski reported that LB/DB Construction had not submitted an updated construction schedule or proof of payment to subcontractors, despite repeated requests since May.

“We are exercising our right within the contract to withhold certification of the payment,” he told council.

To date, Jim Thorpe has paid $121,619.70 for Phase I and $135,169.20 for Phase II. On Thursday, it withheld payments of $77,670 and $4,320.

The funding for Phase I, totaling $287,000, came from various sources, including the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Department of Community and Economic Development. The borough secured $171,000 for Phase II through a state DCNR recreation grant.

Questions were raised by borough officials about whether subcontractors had been paid.

“They sent us a copy of a bill for the electrician that just is stamped paid, but we don’t actually know that it’s paid,” Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said. “They also sent us a copy of a check, but we don’t know if the check was mailed.”

Gas company documentation was also incomplete. Grundowski said the only evidence received was “work orders that listed what they did that day in photographs. They just said that someone from UGI was on-site when they were crossing the gas line.”

While certification was received for a pour-in-place rubber surface, lighting remained a problem.

“The lights within the park do not work because they have damage to the lines running to them, and they have not come up with a plan on how to repair that,” Grundowski said.

Council members described disputes with the contractor over damaged equipment. “We met with him and showed him the damage to the equipment, and he said he knew nothing about it,” Sterner recalled. “Later, they admitted they did use a jackhammer after telling us the only thing they used was a shovel.”

The first phase of the Memorial Park project featured construction of a playground and fitness area designed for 2- to 5-year-olds. A second phase included construction of a playground catering to 5- to 12-year-olds and a sensory garden. A third phase, set to include new basketball courts, is also delayed, Strubinger said.

Conversation on Thursday night turned to the future of the project.

“I don’t think these people are going to finish this project,” Sterner said.

Others warned that replacing the contractor could create more challenges.

“It’s going to be a really uphill battle to get rid of them and get someone else in here,” Councilman Tom Chapman, who reported he is meeting with the contractor next week, said. “I met with him twice this week and he’s not a very good contractor. We are fighting with him daily. When you get into public bids, it gets challenging because we are stuck with the low bid.”

The borough discussed possible alternatives, including working directly with subcontractors and using COSTARS (a state cooperative purchasing program) contractors to complete the work.

Ultimately, council voted to send a notice of intent to terminate the contract if substantial progress is not made over the next week.

Council members expressed concern for residents waiting to use the park.

“My phone rings every day from people who stand and look through the fence and their kids cannot use the playground,” Joanne Klitsch said.

Council President Greg Strubinger added, “It’s terrible. This was supposed to be done in May. There were some weather issues, no question about that, but this was above and beyond.”